Community mourns death of Don Buehler, 'a great one'

WOOSTER — Don Buehler, who, along with his brother, Gene, helped expand the grocery store chain their parents founded, died Wednesday. He was 85.

Don Buehler suffered a stroke in July 2016, and he received around-the-clock care since then, sons Bob and Greg Buehler said. After a stint in the hospital and a nursing home, Don Buehler came home in September, something for which he was grateful.

The family remembered Don Buehler as one who worked hard, loved his family and enjoyed having a fun time, especially with his Ford cars and trucks. He came by his nickname, Wheels, honestly.

One of his pride and joys was a 1932 Ford pickup. He completely restored the truck in his brother’s chicken coop. Sons Bob and Greg Buehler remembered walking across snow-covered fields into the coop where the pieces of the vehicle were stored in bushel baskets. Don Buehler would drive the truck, with its Buehler’s sideboards, in parades. And, when going out on special dates, the boys got to drive the truck.

"Well before we had driver’s licenses, we drove the truck around the farm," Greg Buehler said.

Don Buehler was involved in Kiwanis, and Bob and Greg, along with their brother, Roger Buehler, spent many a morning at the Kiwanis Pancake Day, rolling silverware, handing out milk and cleaning tables.

"We lost a great one," said Ted Bogner, president of Bogner Construction. "Working with Don and Gene, we built 14 stores. It was an absolute pleasure. We never, ever had a contract, only a handshake. That’s just the way they were."

Ed and Helen Buehler opened their first store in New Philadelphia in 1929, and then they moved to Wooster to open a store in 1932. They turned operations over to their sons, Don, Gene and Wayne (who died in 1972). Don and Gene later turned over operations to their sons.

Bogner recalled a time he and Don Buehler were driving to the Delaware, Ohio, store. "I said, ‘Don, do you call the people who work for you workers or associates.’ He told me, ‘Ted, we call them people and that’s how we treat them.’

"That typified Don — well, both of them."

Bogner introduced the brothers when they were named to the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce Wall of Fame in 2007.

"Once again, we have lost one of the leaders of our community," said David Noble of the Don and Alice Noble Foundation. "He will be greatly missed."

"We’re losing that whole generation of community leaders," which includes people like Gene Buehler, who died in 2011, Don Noble, Stan Gault, Ralph Jones and Stan Welty, said Greg Long of Long, Cook & Samsa. "It’s a normal thing, but you better have other people ready to step up and take their place."

"We were neighbors, and I enjoyed his friendship," said Dick Seaman of Seaman Corp. "I admired what he and Gene created through the Buehler’s stores. He leaves behind a legacy; he was involved in the community in many ways."

Some of the ways Don Buehler, his wife, Shirley, and the family gave back to the community include LifeCare Hospice, the Salvation Army, the Kiwanis, The Wilderness Center, the Shisler Center, Secrest Arboretum, the Wayne County Community Foundation and the College of Wooster.

"Don Buehler has done so much for the whole Wooster community, but we at the college are especially grateful for something that most people outside the campus know nothing about," said John Hopkins, associate vice president for college relations and marketing. "For almost 30 years, Don and Shirley have underwritten the cost of our annual service recognition luncheon, where we honor staff members who have given 10, 20, 30 years and more of service to the college, as well as those who are retiring. It was a wonderful thing to do and so characteristic of who he was."

"Don and the Buehler family were early supporters of the Wayne County Community Foundation," Executive Director Sara L. Patton said. "They played a big role in helping it grow. He was a trustee for the College of Wooster. He and Shirley, and the family, are incredibly generous to the community. Don and Shirley have been quiet about their philanthropy.

"It’s a real loss. First, for the family, but also to everyone in the community. Don was a stellar citizen."

When the Buehler brothers were named to the Wall of Fame, which was the same year they were inducted into the Ohio Grocers Hall of Fame, neither stepped up to the microphone to speak at the event. That’s just the way they were, family and friends said.

"They never wanted pomp and circumstance," Shirley Buehler said.

"Don will forever be remembered as a leader in the community through his philanthropic activity and his leadership in the business community," Chamber President Justin Starlin said. "He will be greatly missed, but his legacy will live on for years to come."

Reporter Bobby Warren can be reached at 330-287-1639 or bwarren@the-daily-record.com. He is @BobbyWarrenTDR on Twitter.

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